Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Five
Hugo and Xavier approached the reception desk at the police station.
"I want to talk to Charlie," the oldest Austin said to Angelo, resting his hands on the desk.
Angelo observed the local with contempt. He was absolutely sure that this apparent family man was nothing but evil and he was determined to bring him down. They had had the odd altercation already but so far, Angelo hadn't come up with any conclusive evidence.
"She's not working at the moment," he said. "Or didn't you hear?"
Hugo sighed. In his distress over the death threat posted on his front door, he had forgotten that Charlie was being accused of murder and had therefore been suspended from work pending an investigation.
"Well, then I want to talk to the next person in charge," he said.
"That would be me," Angelo lied.
"I don't want to talk to you," Hugo said firmly. "You shouldn't even be allowed to set foot on free land, let alone serve and protect our community."
He would always hate him for killing Jack. As much as he loved Martha, he would give anything for his cousin to be alive, well and happy again.
"That as may be," Angelo said. "But I'm afraid you're stuck with me."
"What's going on here?" Robertson asked, approaching them.
"I want to talk to someone about this death threat," Hugo said, waving the paper at him.
Xavier remained silent but glared at Angelo.
"Well, my most professional and capable constable has just popped out for a moment but she'll be back and ready to deal with whatever the problem is," Robertson told him.
Angelo was irritated, knowing the Detective was talking about Watson. It appeared that nobody would ever regard him as more than a murderer in this town. The sooner he got out, the better.
"Thank you for taking the day off to spend it with me," Charlie said, as she and Joey headed out to the Blaxland with a picnic.
Joey smiled and slipped her arm around Charlie's waist.
"As if I need thanking for spending time with you!" she said. "It's a pleasure and an honour!"
Charlie chuckled. Last night, it had all come out that Ruby had 'sort of' attended Grant's funeral. Charlie had been reasonable about it and Ruby had explained that she'd just needed to make sure he was really dead and in the ground. But alone, later that night, Charlie had been emotional about the whole thing. She'd been shocked by the venom in Ruby's voice and she felt bad for letting her down and not knowing how her own daughter had been feeling. So Joey had called Irene and just about managed to wangle the day off work in order to take Charlie out and cheer her up.
"Well, I for one am definitely a big fan of day trips on boats with you," Charlie said.
Joey grinned. They always seemed to have fun on these kinds of adventures and she didn't think she'd ever forget that first time, when they had shared their first kiss.
Geoff was in a world of his own on board the trawler. He and Aden had sniped at each other a few times, due to Geoff not paying attention like he was meant to. The younger boy was missing Joey's peace making skills already.
"Look, why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Aden finally said.
"What?" Geoff asked in sheer confusion.
"Ruby."
Geoff folded his arms. He did not want to talk about this again.
"If you're in love with her," Aden said. "You need to just say so because this mooning over her... is just boring."
"If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," Geoff snapped.
At lunch time, Ruby escaped school and headed to her house with Nicole. She'd made her excuses to Xavier, who'd looked more than a little forlorn and skipped school for some girl time with one of her best friends.
"So, what's going on with you and Xavier?" Nicole asked, getting straight to the point.
"We're fine," Ruby lied a little defensively.
Nicole raised her eyebrows.
"Come on, Rubes," she said. "You can tell me."
Ruby sighed and flopped back on the couch, closing her eyes for a few moments.
"I've fallen out of love with him," she finally admitted. "And I have no idea how to let him know."
Out on deck of the boat, Charlie and Joey were very much enjoying the sunshine. They'd eaten their picnic and indulged in a glass of wine each. Now, lying on a blanket in the sun, much like they had the first time, Joey gazed at Charlie. This time however, she had no fear about being close to her. With confidence, Joey inched closer and brushed her lips against Charlie's. The Senior Constable smiled against Joey's soft, warm lips and returned her kisses wholeheartedly. After several pleasurable moments, Joey moved so that she was lying atop Charlie, who moaned softly as Joey's hands began to wander. Joey carefully slipped her fingers under the hem of Charlie's shirt, stroking her skin and continuing an upwards climb. She cupped each of Charlie's breasts in turn, teasing her and gently slipping her thigh between both of Charlie's. The older woman parted her legs more than a little willingly as Joey's lips left her mouth and found their place on her neck. Charlie entangled her fingers in Joey's hair as she pulled her closer. This was definitely going to be a lovely afternoon.
Xavier sat in class but was paying very little attention to Miles as he stood at the head of the room wittering on about something or other. The teenager's mind was solely full of Ruby. Where had she and Nicole gone at lunch time? Why hadn't they come back? And, rather more urgently, what had happened between Ruby and Geoff yesterday?
"Okay, so let me get this straight," Nicole said, as she and Ruby tucked into Charlie's secret stash of ice cream. "Things have fizzled out with Xavier but you don't know how to tell him. And in the mean time, you've fallen in love with Geoff?"
Ruby coloured, feeling more than a little awkward. Nicole was Geoff's ex-girlfriend after all.
"Geoff and I are ancient history," Nicole said, reading her thoughts. "Don't worry about it."
Ruby grinned and then sighed.
"I don't know if I've fallen in love with him exactly but..."
She sighed again.
"I have really strong feelings for him," she admitted.
Nicole took another spoonful of ice cream.
"I have to say I'm surprised," she said. "I remember a time when you thought Geoff was really boring. When I was dating him, you were always teasing him. Although, that was a while ago. You weren't even dating Xavier then, I don't think."
"I can't say I saw it coming," Ruby said, taking a spoonful of her own. "I mean, I really did used to think he was square and dull but now... Now, I feel like he's the most wonderful guy on earth. When we went away together, we just bonded in a way that I can't describe."
Nicole nodded. It had been when she and Geoff had been stranded on an island together that she had first realised how special he was.
"He understands me, Nic and he doesn't judge me. I feel like I can say anything to him and he just cares. He doesn't whinge about any old crap like..."
She trailed off.
"Like?"
"Like Xavier does," Ruby said unhappily. "God, I sound evil."
"You don't sound evil."
"Xave and I just don't have anything in common anymore," Ruby said. "We used to be so good together but now... now I feel like I've totally outgrown him. I didn't mean to. I didn't see it happening. It just... did."
Charlie kissed her way back up Joey's body. Her girlfriend lay gasping on the deck of the boat, gazing up at the clouds with her head spinning and her heart racing. Feeling somewhat pleased with herself for creating such a reaction, Charlie snuggled up against her and kissed her lips. Joey smiled, still feeling a little breathless.
"Have I mentioned that I love you?" she asked.
Charlie grinned back.
"Well, you might have screamed it a few moments ago," she teased.
Joey blushed and wrapped her arms around Charlie's neck, pulling her closer for another kiss.
"I love you," she said more seriously.
"And I love you," Charlie confirmed. "I don't think I could ever, ever explain how much."
Xavier had finished school and arrived home to find Brendan with Martha. His brother had been keen to go for a walk so, leaving Martha in peace, Xavier had taken him down to the docks to catch up with Hugo.
"Hey!" the blonde boy called, waving at his older brother.
Hugo stopped and waited for the boys to catch up. He was on his way to his shed, as he had some tidying up to do before the end of the day.
"How did it go... you know, earlier?" Xavier asked, not wanting to worry Brendan by discussing the police.
"Yeah, it was okay," Hugo sighed. "I nearly had to put up with that jerk, Angelo. But I ended up being interviewed for an hour or so with Watson instead though. She didn't seem too hopeful about catching the person behind the letter."
Hugo's theory that it was to do with John Palmer. The vile, middle aged man had been extremely vocal about objecting to Hugo's plans for the marina. Perhaps he was trying to scare him off. He couldn't even bear to entertain the idea that it was more sinister than that. And he couldn't vocalise his theories either without blowing his cover and getting into deeper trouble than he could handle.
Ruby had gone, somewhat reluctantly, to see Xavier at home. Martha had sent her to the docks. Taking a deep breath, she spotted her boyfriend and knew that it was now or never.
"Xavier!" she called.
The blonde boy turned, excused himself from Brendan and Hugo and headed over to her.
"Hey," he said a little uncertainly.
"Hey," Ruby replied. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. Did you... did you have a good day? I figured you'd skipped school with Nicole."
Ruby nodded.
"Listen, there's something I need to talk to you about," she said.
Xavier's heart sank. He knew what was coming. He'd been expecting it for a while. But he wasn't ready for it to be yet.
"What's up?" he squeaked.
"I don't... I don't think we should see each other anymore," she said rather quickly, barely looking him in the eye.
"What?" he asked, heartbroken and feeling strangely unprepared.
"I think we need to break up."
"Why?" he asked. "Is this... is this because of Geoff?"
"No," Ruby lied. "It's just... we haven't been working for a while. Have we?"
Xavier turned, his attention caught up by something behind him. Ruby looked too. The teenagers were horrified to see Hugo in a scuffle with a hooded stranger. Without thinking, Xavier broke into a run.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Leave my brother alone!"
Ruby watched helplessly as Xavier entered the fray. She screamed when he was knocked into the water. She kept screaming when he didn't surface.
